


question existing

by thisissirius



Category: POKEMON Detective Pikachu (2019)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 15:33:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21837790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisissirius/pseuds/thisissirius
Summary: “The sky is blue, Pikachu is cute as hell, and you, Tim Goodman, love pokemon.”
Relationships: Harry Goodman & Tim Goodman, Tim Goodman & Lucy Stevens, Tim Goodman & Pocket Monsters | Pokemon
Comments: 5
Kudos: 87
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	question existing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [valkyrierising](https://archiveofourown.org/users/valkyrierising/gifts).

> i had fun exploring tim's post-movie feelings! i always wonder what it's gotta be like to have your partner become your father inside of his own pikachu. i don't think i got everything you wanted in here, but i tried to take all the parts and make a whole that you'd love. 
> 
> have a wonderful yuletide, giftee, and i hope you love this little thing i've written for you.

“I wasn’t sure if I should have kept it like this. Feels a little like a mausoleum.” Harry made a face as he leaned against the doorjamb. “You can redecorate.”

Pikachu hops up onto the bed next to Tim and he smiles. It’s still weird, not having  _ his _ pikachu which - he never really had a pikachu, and that’s part of his problem now. Playing with the edge of the duvet, Tim looks out of the window, not sure he can look his father in the eyes. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now.”

“This might come as a surprise to you, kid, but neither do I.”

Tim shrugged. “I know I said detective work but I’m not - I don’t even have a pokemon.”

“Pika” Pikachu says, tilting its head. It rests a paw against Tim’s leg. 

“See? I don’t even know what it’s saying anymore.”

“That comes with time,” Harry says, coming to sit next to Tim on the bed. It’s an awkward fit for both of them, but Tim’s starting to realize he likes the closeness with his father after all this time. However hard it is adjusting to his dad having been inside the pikachu he thought he might actually love, he can’t deny that love’s still  _ there _ , only redirected. “You used to love Pokemon so much and I don’t think that’s changed.”

Tim wants to say  _ you don’t know me anymore _ but he can’t make his mouth form the words. “How do you know that?”

“I might not remember what the hell happened, but I know some things.” Harry grins and Tim’s struck by how familiar the expression is. “The sky is blue, Pikachu is cute as hell, and you, Tim Goodman, love pokemon.”

“I think I forgot how,” Tim says quietly. 

Harry leans over, squeezes Tim’s shoulder and then wraps an arm around him. It’s unfamiliar, weird, but Tim relaxes incrementally. It’s something he thinks he can get used to. “You never forget how. Pikachu likes you. You’ve already got one pokemon wrapped around your little finger.”

Pikachu hops onto Tim’s lap and he cradles it. 

Somewhere to start. 

Right. 

  
  
  


“I’m a disaster,” Tim says. 

“I know,” Lucy says. “Why this time?”

Tim can’t even bring himself to be offended. “How did you get psyduck to… well, like you?”

Lucy pauses, giving Tim a look. “I’m a busy reporter, Tim, and you want to know my backstory?”

“Backstory, what are you, a book character? No,” Tim says, shaking his head. “I’m serious!”

With a put-upon sigh, Lucy drags Tim to her office, which is an actual office this time around, and plonks him in a chair. Psyduck follows sedately, and Tim’s a little sorry he’s lost his pikachu translator. It was kinda nice being able to understand his pokemon. 

“What’s this about?”

“I can’t get Pokemon to like me,” Tim says, and doesn’t even mean to whine. 

Lucy looks surprised. “Your weird dad-pikachu loved you before he knew he was your dad. Psyduck likes you.”

Psyduck does, in fact, like Tim. That’s just because Tim likes Lucy. Right? And Pikachu’s because it was his  _ Dad _ . 

“Stop making this difficult,” Lucy says, sitting in her own chair. “Just go out there and find a pokemon!”

“You didn’t actually tell me how you met psyduck,” Tim points out. “I can’t just walk outside and expect a Pokemon to fall in my lap.”

“That’s how I met psyduck.” Lucy stares at psyduck with a smile on her face.

“Literally?” Tim asks, because he can’t not. 

Psyduck nods. 

After a pointed silence, Lucy leans across the table to shove at Tim’s arm. “There’s no wrong answer, Tim. You’re thinking too hard about this. Pokemon can sense these things; the more tense you are, the harder it’ll be to find one who wants to be your partner.”

  
  
  


Roger’s a busy guy, but that doesn’t mean what happened with the whole mewtwo debacle doesn’t bring the strangest people together. Of course, when Tim invited Lucy out for drinks, he didn’t expect Roger to be there, but he is, and Tim sighs. 

“Sorry,” Roger says, when Lucy leaves for the toilet, psyduck following in her wake. 

“Are you gonna get a pokemon partner?” Tim blurts out, before promptly wincing.  _ Insensitive, _ he chastises himself, but Roger doesn’t seem too phased by it. 

“Probably not. I’ve never really thought about it, and it doesn’t seem fair to have one Pokemon when I have the whole of Rhyme City to focus on.”

Which is probably why he’s gonna make a better CEO of Clifford Enterprises than his father. “Cool.”

Things are awkward until Lucy returns, but Tim kinda likes having friends in Rhyme City. Jack keeps promising to come out to the city, but if it’s gonna be his home now, he’s gonna need to have something besides this quest for a Pokemon and his potential detective… whatever it’s gonna be. 

  
  


Tim’s sure somewhere there are groups where people can go out together to find their pokemon companion, but he’s not sure he wants to be one of those people. It’s not even that he’s afraid of what might happen; he’s just being cautious. It’s never done him any harm before. Well, much harm. 

Of course he does the usual things everyone suggests; walking around, actively seeking a partner, doing the silent but waiting thing - and even goes to some weird partner-finding bar, but all to no avail. 

Tim’s trying. It’s not that he doesn’t want it, it’s just that he’s not sure what he’s supposed to do. Pikachu found him, not the other way around, and Tim’s not sure if that’s going to happen again. Forcing it didn’t work out with the cubone and Tim’s not looking to get attacked again. 

Maybe insurance was the easier life. 

Then again, the easier life wouldn’t have given him his dad back. 

  
  
  


“Private detective,” Tim tries, staring at himself in the mirror. 

It’s not the kind of detective his father is, or the one Hideo keeps trying to convince him to be, but it’s sort of the kind Tim wants to be. Except maybe not private. Pokemon detective?

“Pokemon detective.”

“Are you trying to convince yourself?” Harry asks from the other room. 

Tim snorts. “Why, aren’t you swept away by my sincerity?”

“Pikachu!”

“See? Pikachu agrees!”

Tim doesn’t actually see, and he can see his expression fall in the mirror. 

Oh, okay. Maybe  _ that’s _ why he can’t bring himself to really  _ look _ for a pokemon. 

“You’re not still worrying about it, are you?” Harry asks over dinner. 

Takeout, because neither he nor Tim are particularly skilled in the kitchen. Yet. 

It takes Tim a moment to realise his father’s talking about the detective thing and not pokemon.

“No,” Tim says after a pause. He pokes at his food, before meeting his father’s eyes slowly. There’s naked affection there, like maybe Harry’s been waiting to unleash it. Tim doesn’t mind. “I miss pikachu.”

Pikachu raises its head but doesn’t speak. Harry’s expression is open, but apologetic. 

“I know it was you and it’s weird to talk about, but I think maybe I can’t find a partner because I kind of already did? It feels like a betrayal.”

Harry doesn’t say anything for a while. “I get it,” he says slowly. “Well, no, I don’t, but I think I understand. I can’t pretend to know what it’s like for you, especially when I have my partner, but I’m more than willing to share if Pikachu is.”

Pikachu looks ready to agree, but Tim shakes his head gently, nevertheless touched by the gesture. 

“Thanks, Dad,” he says, swallowing down the sudden lump in his throat. “I appreciate it, but I think - I think I wanna try and find a pokemon for me, whatever that means.”

Tim feels better just for having said it. 

“All right,” Harry allows. “If you’re sure.”

“I am,” Tim says, and maybe he is, maybe he isn’t. 

His pikachu might be gone, but he’s also not. He’s got his dad, his dad’s pikachu, and friends. The partner’ll come when it’s meant to. 


End file.
